He perks right up, his eyes shimmering gold. “Live in the palace? With you? What do you think I am, an idiot? Of course!”
He does a celebratory somersault in the air. I exchange an amused look with Kharu, then return my attention to Lief when he lands on my hand once more.
“So, how has married life been so far?” Lief asks.
“Yeah, Aurelio,” Kharu says, shooting me a wicked grin, “how is married life treating you? I’m dying to know how the self-proclaimed ‘lifelong bachelor’ ended up a married man before me.”
I’m sweating bullets under both their gazes, but especially Kharu’s. He’s been dating his girlfriend, Rhulia, since they were teenagers, and he’s still taking his time to settle down with her. Last I heard, there’s been trouble in paradise with Rhulia being super jealous over Kharu training with Emilia, even though every knight and their brother’s friend’s brother knows those two go head to head just to challenge themselves. Still, as rocky as their relationship can be, I always assumed they’d be married by twenty-seven or so, and I’d remain aloof to the woes of women for life.
“Uh…it’s not exactly my fault, just so you’re aware,” I start.
“Not your fault? You could have made a fool of yourself like you always do and gotten out of the Wedding Ball,” Lief says.
“Ouch! Not cool!” I say, flicking his wing.
“Ouch! What was that for?” he grumbles.
“You were being a jerk.”
“He’s got a point, though. You had to have put in some sort of effort to catch the queen’s attention,” Kharu says, narrowing his eyes at me playfully. “What did you do, lover boy? You better spill your courtship secrets.”
“Nothing. I stayed as far away from everyone as possible and read a book at my table,” I lie.
“Yeah, that’s not allowed at the royal balls. I know better than that,” Kharu says. He nudges me. “Come on! Spill, man!”
I bite my lip, feeling my face burn. “Well…I, uh…pretended to act like the son my father raised. You know, the way he taught me to act at administrative meetings. I chatted it up with just about every person there, and I made sure I was the brightest person in the room. When Alessia came to talk with me, I pretended to be a little duller than I really am, and it somehow amused her.”
“So…she chose to marry you because she thought you were an idiot?”
“Correction: you are an idiot, so if that was her goal, she succeeded,” Lief says, smirking.
I deadpan. “I really hate you both.”
“Dude, how pretty is she that you decided you wanted to marry her on sight?” Kharu asks. “You’ve been denying women left and right for years! I’ve never seen you express the slightest bit of interest!”
“Well, I saw an opportunity to find peace and quiet for the rest of my life, so I went for it. Unfortunately, Alessia will not allow me to take a backseat as the prince, and she’s dragging me to every meeting and every social event she’s required to go to.”
It’s not unfortunate, now that I have my new goal of proving myself as a ruler, appreciating Alessia, and fulfilling my promise to Keendelle, but I’m not about to admit it out loud, especially not to Lief.
Kharu lets out a long, low whistle. “Damn, Aurelio. You scored big time, but I feel like you just lost worse than a sparring match against Emilia.”
“I did. Literally. I sparred against Alessia, and she handed my ass to me in two minutes flat,” I sigh.
“Imperial humans are at least three times as strong as regular humans, and with twice the agility of a demon,” Lief says, shrugging. “You should have known better than to accept a challenge you can’t win.”
I didn’t really see another choice at the time, but I concede the point. Clearing my throat, I ask, “Would you guys like to come with me to the palace? I can show you around if you’d like.”
“Hells yeah! I’ve never seen the place,” Kharu cheers.
“Yes! But only under one condition,” Lief says.
I see the mischievous grin on his face and sigh. “What now?”
“I’ve known you all your life, Aurelio, and if there’s one thing you suck at, it’s romance.”
“I didn’t exactly try until recently, but go on,” I grumble.
“If we’re going to the palace with you, you have to let us set up a surprise date for you and Alessia.”
